"In its technical paper justifying the awards, the Nobel Committee points out a major problem with using taxes to fund government programs: taxation distorts. The term economists use is “deadweight loss,” a loss that is not offset by a gain to anyone. Economists have estimated that raising $1 in taxes doesn’t cost society only $1; it costs somewhere between $1.17 and $1.56. The extra 17 to 56 cents is deadweight loss. The committee notes that by auctioning off major electromagnetic assets, the federal government avoided having to tax as much."
Wednesday, October 28, 2020
$1 in taxes costs society more than $1
See Thank These Nobel Laureates for Your Cellphone: Economists Paul Milgrom and Richard Wilson get the prize for devising spectrum auctions by David R. Henderson. Excerpt:
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